12 December, 2014

The following article was initially published
in 1997. It is in part based on the work of William Blum. Killing Hope: U.S.
Military and CIA Interventions since World War II, 1995 (GR Ed. M. Ch.)

By Steve Kangas

The following timeline describes just a few of
the hundreds of atrocities and crimes committed by the CIA. (1)

CIA operations follow the same recurring script.
First, American business interests abroad are threatened by a popular or
democratically elected leader. The people support their leader because he
intends to conduct land reform, strengthen unions, redistribute wealth,
nationalize foreign-owned industry, and regulate business to protect workers,
consumers and the environment.

So, on behalf of American business, and often
with their help, the CIA mobilizes the opposition. First it identifies
right-wing groups within the country (usually the military), and offers them a
deal: “We’ll put you in power if you maintain a favorable business climate for
us.”

The Agency then hires, trains and works with them
to overthrow the existing government (usually a democracy). It uses every trick
in the book: propaganda, stuffed ballot boxes, purchased elections, extortion,
blackmail, sexual intrigue, false stories about opponents in the local media,
infiltration and disruption of opposing political parties, kidnapping, beating,
torture, intimidation, economic sabotage, death squads and even assassination.

These efforts culminate in a military coup,
which installs a right-wing dictator. The CIA trains the dictator’s security
apparatus to crack down on the traditional enemies of big business, using
interrogation, torture and murder. The victims are said to be “communists,” but
almost always they are just peasants, liberals, moderates, labor union leaders,
political opponents and advocates of free speech and democracy. Widespread
human rights abuses follow.

This scenario has been repeated so many times
that the CIA actually teaches it in a special school, the notorious “School of
the Americas.” (It opened in Panama but later moved to Fort Benning, Georgia.)
Critics have nicknamed it the “School of the Dictators” and “School of the
Assassins.” Here, the CIA trains Latin American military officers how to
conduct coups, including the use of interrogation, torture and murder.

The Association for Responsible Dissent estimates
that by 1987, 6 million people had died as a result of CIA covert operations.
(2) Former State Department official William Blum correctly calls this an
“American Holocaust.”

The CIA justifies these actions as part of its
war against communism. But most coups do not involve a communist
threat. Unlucky nations are targeted for a wide variety of reasons: not only
threats to American business interests abroad, but also liberal or even
moderate social reforms, political instability, the unwillingness of a leader
to carry out Washington’s dictates, and declarations of neutrality in the Cold
War. Indeed, nothing has infuriated CIA Directors quite like a nation’s desire
to stay out of the Cold War.

The ironic thing about all this intervention is
that it frequently fails to achieve American objectives. Often the newly
installed dictator grows comfortable with the security apparatus the CIA has
built for him. He becomes an expert at running a police state. And because the
dictator knows he cannot be overthrown, he becomes independent and defiant of
Washington’s will.

The CIA then finds it cannot overthrow him,
because the police and military are under the dictator’s control, afraid to
cooperate with American spies for fear of torture and execution. The only two
options for the U.S at this point are impotence or war. Examples of this
“boomerang effect” include the Shah of Iran, General Noriega and Saddam
Hussein. The boomerang effect also explains why the CIA has proven highly
successful at overthrowing democracies, but a wretched failure at overthrowing
dictatorships.

The following timeline should confirm that the
CIA as we know it should be abolished and replaced by a true information-gathering
and analysis organization. The CIA cannot be reformed — it is institutionally
and culturally corrupt.

1929

The culture we lost — Secretary
of State Henry Stimson refuses to endorse a code-breaking operation, saying,
“Gentlemen do not read each other’s mail.”

1941

COI created — In preparation for
World War II, President Roosevelt creates the Office of Coordinator of
Information (COI). General William “Wild Bill” Donovan heads the new
intelligence service.

1942

OSS created — Roosevelt
restructures COI into something more suitable for covert action, the Office of
Strategic Services (OSS). Donovan recruits so many of the nation’s rich and
powerful that eventually people joke that “OSS” stands for “Oh, so social!” or
“Oh, such snobs!”

1943

Italy — Donovan recruits the
Catholic Church in Rome to be the center of Anglo-American spy operations in
Fascist Italy. This would prove to be one of America’s most enduring
intelligence alliances in the Cold War.

1945

OSS is abolished — The remaining
American information agencies cease covert actions and return to harmless
information gathering and analysis.

Operation PAPERCLIP – While
other American agencies are hunting down Nazi war criminals for arrest, the
U.S. intelligence community is smuggling them into America, unpunished, for
their use against the Soviets. The most important of these is Reinhard Gehlen,
Hitler’s master spy who had built up an intelligence network in the Soviet
Union. With full U.S. blessing, he creates the “Gehlen Organization,” a band of
refugee Nazi spies who reactivate their networks in Russia.

These include SS intelligence officers Alfred Six
and Emil Augsburg (who massacred Jews in the Holocaust), Klaus Barbie (the
“Butcher of Lyon”), Otto von Bolschwing (the Holocaust mastermind who worked
with Eichmann) and SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny (a personal friend of Hitler’s).
The Gehlen Organization supplies the U.S. with its only intelligence on the
Soviet Union for the next ten years, serving as a bridge between the
abolishment of the OSS and the creation of the CIA.

However, much of the “intelligence” the former
Nazis provide is bogus. Gehlen inflates Soviet military capabilities at a time
when Russia is still rebuilding its devastated society, in order to inflate his
own importance to the Americans (who might otherwise punish him). In 1948,
Gehlen almost convinces the Americans that war is imminent, and the West should
make a preemptive strike. In the 50s he produces a fictitious “missile gap.” To
make matters worse, the Russians have thoroughly penetrated the Gehlen
Organization with double agents, undermining the very American security that
Gehlen was supposed to protect.

1947

Greece — President Truman
requests military aid to Greece to support right-wing forces fighting communist
rebels. For the rest of the Cold War, Washington and the CIA will back
notorious Greek leaders with deplorable human rights records.

CIA created — President Truman
signs the National Security Act of 1947, creating the Central Intelligence
Agency and National Security Council. The CIA is accountable to the president
through the NSC — there is no democratic or congressional oversight. Its
charter allows the CIA to “perform such other functions and duties… as the
National Security Council may from time to time direct.” This loophole opens
the door to covert action and dirty tricks.

1948

Covert-action wing created — The
CIA recreates a covert action wing, innocuously called the Office of Policy
Coordination, led by Wall Street lawyer Frank Wisner. According to its secret
charter, its responsibilities include “propaganda, economic warfare, preventive
direct action, including sabotage, antisabotage, demolition and evacuation
procedures; subversion against hostile states, including assistance to
underground resistance groups, and support of indigenous anti-communist
elements in threatened countries of the free world.”

Italy — The CIA corrupts
democratic elections in Italy, where Italian communists threaten to win the
elections. The CIA buys votes, broadcasts propaganda, threatens and beats up
opposition leaders, and infiltrates and disrupts their organizations. It works
— the communists are defeated.

1949

Radio Free Europe — The CIA
creates its first major propaganda outlet, Radio Free Europe. Over the next
several decades, its broadcasts are so blatantly false that for a time it is
considered illegal to publish transcripts of them in the U.S.

Late 40s

Operation MOCKINGBIRD — The CIA
begins recruiting American news organizations and journalists to become spies
and disseminators of propaganda. The effort is headed by Frank Wisner, Allan
Dulles, Richard Helms and Philip Graham. Graham is publisher of The
Washington Post, which becomes a major CIA player. Eventually, the CIA’s
media assets will include ABC, NBC, CBS, Time, Newsweek, Associated
Press, United Press International, Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps-Howard,
Copley News Service and more. By the CIA’s own admission, at least 25
organizations and 400 journalists will become CIA assets.

1953

Iran – CIA overthrows the democratically
elected Mohammed Mossadegh in a military coup, after he threatened to
nationalize British oil. The CIA replaces him with a dictator, the Shah of
Iran, whose secret police, SAVAK, is as brutal as the Gestapo.

Operation MK-ULTRA — Inspired by
North Korea’s brainwashing program, the CIA begins experiments on mind control.
The most notorious part of this project involves giving LSD and other drugs to
American subjects without their knowledge or against their will, causing
several to commit suicide. However, the operation involves far more than this.
Funded in part by the Rockefeller and Ford foundations, research includes
propaganda, brainwashing, public relations, advertising, hypnosis, and other
forms of suggestion.

1954

Guatemala — CIA overthrows the
democratically elected Jacob Arbenz in a military coup. Arbenz has threatened
to nationalize the Rockefeller-owned United Fruit Company, in which CIA
Director Allen Dulles also owns stock. Arbenz is replaced with a series of
right-wing dictators whose bloodthirsty policies will kill over 100,000
Guatemalans in the next 40 years.

1954-1958

North Vietnam — CIA officer
Edward Lansdale spends four years trying to overthrow the communist government
of North Vietnam, using all the usual dirty tricks. The CIA also attempts to
legitimize a tyrannical puppet regime in South Vietnam, headed by Ngo Dinh
Diem. These efforts fail to win the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese
because the Diem government is opposed to true democracy, land reform and
poverty reduction measures. The CIA’s continuing failure results in escalating
American intervention, culminating in the Vietnam War.

1956

Hungary — Radio Free Europe
incites Hungary to revolt by broadcasting Khruschev’s Secret Speech, in which
he denounced Stalin. It also hints that American aid will help the Hungarians
fight. This aid fails to materialize as Hungarians launch a doomed armed
revolt, which only invites a major Soviet invasion. The conflict kills 7,000
Soviets and 30,000 Hungarians.

1957-1973

Laos — The CIA carries out
approximately one coup per year trying to nullify Laos’ democratic elections.
The problem is the Pathet Lao, a leftist group with enough popular support to
be a member of any coalition government. In the late 50s, the CIA even creates
an “Armee Clandestine” of Asian mercenaries to attack the Pathet Lao. After the
CIA’s army suffers numerous defeats, the U.S. starts bombing, dropping more
bombs on Laos than all the U.S. bombs dropped in World War II. A quarter of all
Laotians will eventually become refugees, many living in caves.

1959

Haiti — The U.S. military helps
“Papa Doc” Duvalier become dictator of Haiti. He creates his own private police
force, the “Tonton Macoutes,” who terrorize the population with machetes. They
will kill over 100,000 during the Duvalier family reign. The U.S. does not
protest their dismal human rights record.

1961

The Bay of Pigs — The CIA sends
1,500 Cuban exiles to invade Castro’s Cuba. But “Operation Mongoose” fails, due
to poor planning, security and backing. The planners had imagined that the
invasion will spark a popular uprising against Castro -– which never happens. A
promised American air strike also never occurs. This is the CIA’s first public
setback, causing President Kennedy to fire CIA Director Allen Dulles.

Dominican Republic — The CIA
assassinates Rafael Trujillo, a murderous dictator Washington has supported
since 1930. Trujillo’s business interests have grown so large (about 60 percent
of the economy) that they have begun competing with American business
interests.

Ecuador — The CIA-backed
military forces the democratically elected President Jose Velasco to resign.
Vice President Carlos Arosemana replaces him; the CIA fills the now vacant vice
presidency with its own man.

Congo (Zaire) — The CIA
assassinates the democratically elected Patrice Lumumba. However, public
support for Lumumba’s politics runs so high that the CIA cannot clearly install
his opponents in power. Four years of political turmoil follow.

1963

Dominican Republic — The CIA
overthrows the democratically elected Juan Bosch in a military coup. The CIA
installs a repressive, right-wing junta.

Ecuador — A CIA-backed military
coup overthrows President Arosemana, whose independent (not socialist) policies
have become unacceptable to Washington. A military junta assumes command,
cancels the 1964 elections, and begins abusing human rights.

1964

Brazil — A CIA-backed military
coup overthrows the democratically elected government of Joao Goulart. The
junta that replaces it will, in the next two decades, become one of the most
bloodthirsty in history. General Castelo Branco will create Latin America’s
first death squads, or bands of secret police who hunt down “communists” for
torture, interrogation and murder. Often these “communists” are no more than
Branco’s political opponents. Later it is revealed that the CIA trains the
death squads.

1965

Indonesia — The CIA overthrows
the democratically elected Sukarno with a military coup. The CIA has been
trying to eliminate Sukarno since 1957, using everything from attempted
assassination to sexual intrigue, for nothing more than his declaring
neutrality in the Cold War. His successor, General Suharto, will massacre
between 500,000 to 1 million civilians accused of being “communist.” The CIA
supplies the names of countless suspects.

Dominican Republic — A popular
rebellion breaks out, promising to reinstall Juan Bosch as the country’s
elected leader. The revolution is crushed when U.S. Marines land to uphold the
military regime by force. The CIA directs everything behind the scenes.

Greece — With the CIA’s backing,
the king removes George Papandreous as prime minister. Papandreous has failed
to vigorously support U.S. interests in Greece.

Congo (Zaire) — A CIA-backed
military coup installs Mobutu Sese Seko as dictator. The hated and repressive
Mobutu exploits his desperately poor country for billions.

1966

The Ramparts
Affair — The radical magazine Ramparts begins a series of
unprecedented anti-CIA articles. Among their scoops: the CIA has paid the
University of Michigan $25 million dollars to hire “professors” to train South
Vietnamese students in covert police methods. MIT and other universities have
received similar payments. Ramparts also reveals that the National
Students’ Association is a CIA front. Students are sometimes recruited through
blackmail and bribery, including draft deferments.

1967

Greece — A CIA-backed military
coup overthrows the government two days before the elections. The favorite to
win was George Papandreous, the liberal candidate. During the next six years,
the “reign of the colonels” — backed by the CIA — will usher in the widespread
use of torture and murder against political opponents. When a Greek ambassador
objects to President Johnson about U.S. plans for Cypress, Johnson tells him:
“Fuck your parliament and your constitution.”

Operation PHEONIX — The CIA
helps South Vietnamese agents identify and then murder alleged Viet Cong
leaders operating in South Vietnamese villages. According to a 1971
congressional report, this operation killed about 20,000 “Viet Cong.”

1968

Operation CHAOS — The CIA has
been illegally spying on American citizens since 1959, but with Operation
CHAOS, President Johnson dramatically boosts the effort. CIA agents go
undercover as student radicals to spy on and disrupt campus organizations
protesting the Vietnam War. They are searching for Russian instigators, which
they never find. CHAOS will eventually spy on 7,000 individuals and 1,000
organizations.

Bolivia — A CIA-organized
military operation captures legendary guerilla Che Guevara. The CIA wants to
keep him alive for interrogation, but the Bolivian government executes him to
prevent worldwide calls for clemency.

1969

Uruguay — The notorious CIA
torturer Dan Mitrione arrives in Uruguay, a country torn with political strife.
Whereas right-wing forces previously used torture only as a last resort,
Mitrione convinces them to use it as a routine, widespread practice. “The
precise pain, in the precise place, in the precise amount, for the desired effect,”
is his motto. The torture techniques he teaches to the death squads rival the
Nazis’. He eventually becomes so feared that revolutionaries will kidnap and
murder him a year later.

1970

Cambodia — The CIA overthrows
Prince Sahounek, who is highly popular among Cambodians for keeping them out of
the Vietnam War. He is replaced by CIA puppet Lon Nol, who immediately throws
Cambodian troops into battle. This unpopular move strengthens once minor
opposition parties like the Khmer Rouge, which achieves power in 1975 and
massacres millions of its own people.

1971

Bolivia — After half a decade of
CIA-inspired political turmoil, a CIA-backed military coup overthrows the
leftist President Juan Torres. In the next two years, dictator Hugo Banzer will
have over 2,000 political opponents arrested without trial, then tortured,
raped and executed.

Haiti — “Papa Doc” Duvalier
dies, leaving his 19-year old son “Baby Doc” Duvalier the dictator of Haiti.
His son continues his bloody reign with full knowledge of the CIA.

1972

The Case-Zablocki Act — Congress
passes an act requiring congressional review of executive agreements. In
theory, this should make CIA operations more accountable. In fact, it is only
marginally effective.

Cambodia — Congress votes to cut
off CIA funds for its secret war in Cambodia.

Wagergate Break-in — President
Nixon sends in a team of burglars to wiretap Democratic offices at Watergate.
The team members have extensive CIA histories, including James McCord, E. Howard
Hunt and five of the Cuban burglars. They work for the Committee to Reelect the
President (CREEP), which does dirty work like disrupting Democratic campaigns
and laundering Nixon’s illegal campaign contributions. CREEP’s activities are
funded and organized by another CIA front, the Mullen Company.

1973

Chile — The CIA overthrows and
assassinates Salvador Allende, Latin America’s first democratically elected
socialist leader. The problems begin when Allende nationalizes American-owned
firms in Chile. ITT offers the CIA $1 million for a coup (reportedly refused).
The CIA replaces Allende with General Augusto Pinochet, who will torture and
murder thousands of his own countrymen in a crackdown on labor leaders and the
political left.

CIA begins internal investigations
— William Colby, the Deputy Director for Operations, orders all CIA personnel
to report any and all illegal activities they know about. This information is
later reported to Congress.

Watergate Scandal — The CIA’s
main collaborating newspaper in America, The Washington Post, reports
Nixon’s crimes long before any other newspaper takes up the subject. The two
reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, make almost no mention of the CIA’s many
fingerprints all over the scandal. It is later revealed that Woodward was a
Naval intelligence briefer to the White House, and knows many important
intelligence figures, including General Alexander Haig. His main source, “Deep
Throat,” is probably one of those.

CIA Director Helms Fired —
President Nixon fires CIA Director Richard Helms for failing to help cover up
the Watergate scandal. Helms and Nixon have always disliked each other. The new
CIA director is William Colby, who is relatively more open to CIA reform.

1974

CHAOS exposed — Pulitzer prize
winning journalist Seymour Hersh publishes a story about Operation CHAOS, the
domestic surveillance and infiltration of anti-war and civil rights groups in
the U.S. The story sparks national outrage.

Angleton fired — Congress holds
hearings on the illegal domestic spying efforts of James Jesus Angleton, the
CIA’s chief of counterintelligence. His efforts included mail-opening campaigns
and secret surveillance of war protesters. The hearings result in his dismissal
from the CIA.

House clears CIA in Watergate —
The House of Representatives clears the CIA of any complicity in Nixon’s
Watergate break-in.

The Hughes Ryan Act — Congress
passes an amendment requiring the president to report nonintelligence CIA
operations to the relevant congressional committees in a timely fashion.

1975

Australia — The CIA helps topple
the democratically elected, left-leaning government of Prime Minister Edward
Whitlam. The CIA does this by giving an ultimatum to its Governor-General, John
Kerr. Kerr, a longtime CIA collaborator, exercises his constitutional right to
dissolve the Whitlam government. The Governor-General is a largely ceremonial
position appointed by the Queen; the Prime Minister is democratically elected.
The use of this archaic and never-used law stuns the nation.

Angola — Eager to demonstrate
American military resolve after its defeat in Vietnam, Henry Kissinger launches
a CIA-backed war in Angola. Contrary to Kissinger’s assertions, Angola is a
country of little strategic importance and not seriously threatened by
communism. The CIA backs the brutal leader of UNITAS, Jonas Savimbi. This
polarizes Angolan politics and drives his opponents into the arms of Cuba and
the Soviet Union for survival. Congress will cut off funds in 1976, but the CIA
is able to run the war off the books until 1984, when funding is legalized
again. This entirely pointless war kills over 300,000 Angolans.

“The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence”
— Victor Marchetti and John Marks publish this whistle-blowing history of CIA
crimes and abuses. Marchetti has spent 14 years in the CIA, eventually becoming
an executive assistant to the Deputy Director of Intelligence. Marks has spent
five years as an intelligence official in the State Department.

“Inside the Company” — Philip
Agee publishes a diary of his life inside the CIA. Agee has worked in covert
operations in Latin America during the 60s, and details the crimes in which he
took part.

Congress investigates CIA wrong-doing
— Public outrage compels Congress to hold hearings on CIA crimes. Senator Frank
Church heads the Senate investigation (“The Church Committee”), and
Representative Otis Pike heads the House investigation. (Despite a 98 percent
incumbency reelection rate, both Church and Pike are defeated in the next
elections.) The investigations lead to a number of reforms intended to increase
the CIA’s accountability to Congress, including the creation of a standing
Senate committee on intelligence. However, the reforms prove ineffective, as
the Iran/Contra scandal will show. It turns out the CIA can control, deal with
or sidestep Congress with ease.

The Rockefeller Commission — In
an attempt to reduce the damage done by the Church Committee, President Ford
creates the “Rockefeller Commission” to whitewash CIA history and propose toothless
reforms. The commission’s namesake, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, is
himself a major CIA figure. Five of the commission’s eight members are also
members of the Council on Foreign Relations, a CIA-dominated organization.

1979

Iran — The CIA fails to predict
the fall of the Shah of Iran, a longtime CIA puppet, and the rise of Muslim
fundamentalists who are furious at the CIA’s backing of SAVAK, the Shah’s
bloodthirsty secret police. In revenge, the Muslims take 52 Americans hostage
in the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

Afghanistan — The Soviets invade
Afghanistan. The CIA immediately begins supplying arms to any faction willing
to fight the occupying Soviets. Such indiscriminate arming means that when the
Soviets leave Afghanistan, civil war will erupt. Also, fanatical Muslim
extremists now possess state-of-the-art weaponry. One of these is Sheik Abdel
Rahman, who will become involved in the World Trade Center bombing in New York.

El Salvador — An idealistic
group of young military officers, repulsed by the massacre of the poor,
overthrows the right-wing government. However, the U.S. compels the
inexperienced officers to include many of the old guard in key positions in
their new government. Soon, things are back to “normal” — the military
government is repressing and killing poor civilian protesters. Many of the
young military and civilian reformers, finding themselves powerless, resign in
disgust.

Nicaragua — Anastasios Samoza
II, the CIA-backed dictator, falls. The Marxist Sandinistas take over
government, and they are initially popular because of their commitment to land
and anti-poverty reform. Samoza had a murderous and hated personal army called
the National Guard. Remnants of the Guard will become the Contras, who fight a
CIA-backed guerilla war against the Sandinista government throughout the 1980s.

1980

El Salvador — The Archbishop of
San Salvador, Oscar Romero, pleads with President Carter “Christian to
Christian” to stop aiding the military government slaughtering his people.
Carter refuses. Shortly afterwards, right-wing leader Roberto D’Aubuisson has
Romero shot through the heart while saying Mass. The country soon dissolves
into civil war, with the peasants in the hills fighting against the military
government. The CIA and U.S. Armed Forces supply the government with
overwhelming military and intelligence superiority. CIA-trained death squads
roam the countryside, committing atrocities like that of El Mazote in 1982,
where they massacre between 700 and 1000 men, women and children. By 1992, some
63,000 Salvadorans will be killed.

1981

Iran/Contra Begins — The CIA
begins selling arms to Iran at high prices, using the profits to arm the
Contras fighting the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. President Reagan vows
that the Sandinistas will be “pressured” until “they say ‘uncle.’” The CIA’s Freedom
Fighter’s Manual disbursed to the Contras includes instruction on economic
sabotage, propaganda, extortion, bribery, blackmail, interrogation, torture,
murder and political assassination.

1983

Honduras — The CIA gives
Honduran military officers the Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual
– 1983, which teaches how to torture people. Honduras’ notorious
“Battalion 316″ then uses these techniques, with the CIA’s full knowledge, on
thousands of leftist dissidents. At least 184 are murdered.

1984

The Boland Amendment — The last
of a series of Boland Amendments is passed. These amendments have reduced CIA
aid to the Contras; the last one cuts it off completely. However, CIA Director
William Casey is already prepared to “hand off” the operation to Colonel Oliver
North, who illegally continues supplying the Contras through the CIA’s
informal, secret, and self-financing network. This includes “humanitarian aid”
donated by Adolph Coors and William Simon, and military aid funded by Iranian
arms sales.

1986

Eugene Hasenfus — Nicaragua
shoots down a C-123 transport plane carrying military supplies to the Contras.
The lone survivor, Eugene Hasenfus, turns out to be a CIA employee, as are the
two dead pilots. The airplane belongs to Southern Air Transport, a CIA front.
The incident makes a mockery of President Reagan’s claims that the CIA is not
illegally arming the Contras.

Iran/Contra Scandal — Although
the details have long been known, the Iran/Contra scandal finally captures the
media’s attention in 1986. Congress holds hearings, and several key figures
(like Oliver North) lie under oath to protect the intelligence community. CIA
Director William Casey dies of brain cancer before Congress can question him.
All reforms enacted by Congress after the scandal are purely cosmetic.

Haiti — Rising popular revolt in
Haiti means that “Baby Doc” Duvalier will remain “President for Life” only if
he has a short one. The U.S., which hates instability in a puppet country,
flies the despotic Duvalier to the South of France for a comfortable
retirement. The CIA then rigs the upcoming elections in favor of another
right-wing military strongman. However, violence keeps the country in political
turmoil for another four years. The CIA tries to strengthen the military by
creating the National Intelligence Service (SIN), which suppresses popular
revolt through torture and assassination.

1989

Panama — The U.S. invades Panama
to overthrow a dictator of its own making, General Manuel Noriega. Noriega has
been on the CIA’s payroll since 1966, and has been transporting drugs with the
CIA’s knowledge since 1972. By the late 80s, Noriega’s growing independence and
intransigence have angered Washington… so out he goes.

1990

Haiti — Competing against 10
comparatively wealthy candidates, leftist priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide
captures 68 percent of the vote. After only eight months in power, however, the
CIA-backed military deposes him. More military dictators brutalize the country,
as thousands of Haitian refugees escape the turmoil in barely seaworthy boats.
As popular opinion calls for Aristide’s return, the CIA begins a disinformation
campaign painting the courageous priest as mentally unstable.

1991

The Gulf War — The U.S.
liberates Kuwait from Iraq. But Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, is another
creature of the CIA. With U.S. encouragement, Hussein invaded Iran in 1980.
During this costly eight-year war, the CIA built up Hussein’s forces with
sophisticated arms, intelligence, training and financial backing. This cemented
Hussein’s power at home, allowing him to crush the many internal rebellions
that erupted from time to time, sometimes with poison gas. It also gave him all
the military might he needed to conduct further adventurism — in Kuwait, for
example.

The Fall of the Soviet Union —
The CIA fails to predict this most important event of the Cold War. This
suggests that it has been so busy undermining governments that it hasn’t been
doing its primary job: gathering and analyzing information. The fall of the
Soviet Union also robs the CIA of its reason for existence: fighting communism.
This leads some to accuse the CIA of intentionally failing to predict the
downfall of the Soviet Union. Curiously, the intelligence community’s budget is
not significantly reduced after the demise of communism.

1992

Economic Espionage — In the
years following the end of the Cold War, the CIA is increasingly used for
economic espionage. This involves stealing the technological secrets of
competing foreign companies and giving them to American ones. Given the CIA’s
clear preference for dirty tricks over mere information gathering, the
possibility of serious criminal behavior is very great indeed.

1993

Haiti — The chaos in Haiti grows
so bad that President Clinton has no choice but to remove the Haitian military
dictator, Raoul Cedras, on threat of U.S. invasion. The U.S. occupiers do not
arrest Haiti’s military leaders for crimes against humanity, but instead ensure
their safety and rich retirements. Aristide is returned to power only after
being forced to accept an agenda favorable to the country’s ruling class.

EPILOGUE

In a speech before the CIA celebrating its 50th
anniversary, President Clinton said: “By necessity, the American people will
never know the full story of your courage.”

Clinton’s is a common defense of the CIA: namely,
the American people should stop criticizing the CIA because they don’t know
what it really does. This, of course, is the heart of the problem in
the first place. An agency that is above criticism is also above moral behavior
and reform. Its secrecy and lack of accountability allows its corruption to
grow unchecked.

Furthermore, Clinton’s statement is simply
untrue. The history of the agency is growing painfully clear, especially with
the declassification of historical CIA documents. We may not know the details
of specific operations, but we do know, quite well, the general
behavior of the CIA. These facts began emerging nearly two decades ago at an
ever-quickening pace. Today we have a remarkably accurate and consistent
picture, repeated in country after country, and verified from countless
different directions.

The CIA’s response to this growing knowledge and
criticism follows a typical historical pattern. (Indeed, there are remarkable
parallels to the Medieval Church’s fight against the Scientific Revolution.)
The first journalists and writers to reveal the CIA’s criminal behavior were
harassed and censored if they were American writers, and tortured and murdered
if they were foreigners. (See Philip Agee’s On the Run for an example
of early harassment.) However, over the last two decades the tide of evidence
has become overwhelming, and the CIA has found that it does not have enough
fingers to plug every hole in the dike. This is especially true in the age of
the Internet, where information flows freely among millions of people. Since
censorship is impossible, the Agency must now defend itself with apologetics.
Clinton’s “Americans will never know” defense is a prime example.

Another common apologetic is that “the world is
filled with unsavory characters, and we must deal with them if we are to
protect American interests at all.” There are two things wrong with this.
First, it ignores the fact that the CIA has regularly spurned alliances with defenders
of democracy, free speech and human rights, preferring the company of military
dictators and tyrants. The CIA had moral options available to them, but did not
take them.

Second, this argument begs several questions. The
first is: “Which American interests?” The CIA has courted right-wing
dictators because they allow wealthy Americans to exploit the
country’s cheap labor and resources. But poor and middle-class Americans pay
the price whenever they fight the wars that stem from CIA actions, from Vietnam
to the Gulf War to Panama. The second begged question is: “Why should American
interests come at the expense of other peoples’ human rights?”

The CIA should be abolished, its leadership
dismissed and its relevant members tried for crimes against humanity. Our
intelligence community should be rebuilt from the ground up, with the goal of
collecting and analyzing information. As for covert action, there are two moral
options. The first one is to eliminate covert action completely. But this gives
jitters to people worried about the Adolf Hitlers of the world. So a second
option is that we can place covert action under extensive and true democratic
oversight.

For example, a bipartisan Congressional Committee
of 40 members could review and veto all aspects of CIA operations upon a
majority or super-majority vote. Which of these two options is best may be the
subject of debate, but one thing is clear: like dictatorship, like monarchy,
unaccountable covert operations should die like the dinosaurs they are.

24 August, 2014

As Israel continues its massive military aggression against the Gaza
Strip, which has already cost the lives of more than 2,000 Palestinians,
the international condemnation of the atrocities committed by the Tel
Aviv regime and its cruel massacre of the unarmed citizens of the
besieged Gaza grows steadily.

Just recently, a group of Jewish scholars, most of whom were born in
the Occupied Territories and teaching at the Israeli universities, have
signed a petition, calling on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to
stop its deadly incursion into the coastal territory.

A prominent anti-Zionist Israeli historian and intellectual, who is
best known for his outspoken criticism of the Israeli government and his
opposition to the occupation of Palestinian territories, believes that
the Western mainstream media are giving a lopsided and unfair coverage
to the war on Gaza, which has many different reasons, including the
influence of the Israeli lobby and the fear of these media outlets of
being branded anti-Semitist.

In an exclusive interview with Tehran Times, Prof. Ilan Pappé said that
Zionism has reduced Judaism "into a narrow minded ethno-nationalism
that depended on the success of a colonialist project."

Ilan Pappé is a political activist, historian and professor at the
College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University
of Exeter, Britain. He is also the director of the university's European
Centre for Palestine Studies, and co-director of the Exeter Centre for
Ethno-Political Studies. From 1984 to 2007, he was a senior lecturer in
political science at the University of Haifa. A former member of
Israel's Hadash Party, he was the party's candidate for the parliament
(Knesset) elections in 1996 and 1999. In 2012, he published the book
"The Bureaucracy of Evil: The History of the Israeli Occupation" that
was released by the Oneworld Publications.

Prof. Pappé responded to our questions on the recent Israeli onslaught
on the Gaza Strip and the historical, legal aspects of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The following is the text of the
interview.

Q: It was reported that Israel launched its military incursion
into the Gaza Strip after Hamas allegedly kidnapped and killed three
young Israeli settlers. So far, more than 2,000 Palestinians have been
slaughtered in the month-long conflict. Do you consider this mass
killing in such a broad extent, and the obliteration of the civilian
infrastructure of the Gaza Strip a logical, proportionate and
justifiable response to the kidnapping of three Israeli citizens, while
there isn't still reliable evidence showing that the abduction was done
by Hamas?

A: No, of course not and the destruction of Gaza is not really a
retaliation to the abduction and killing of the three settlers. The
incident was a pretext for implementing a policy that was formulated
long time ago towards the Gaza Strip; a geopolitical area of Palestine
for which Israel has no clear policy. It manages, at least in its own
eyes, quite successfully, the rest - 98 percent - of Palestine. It
imposes harsh restrictions on the Palestinian minority inside Israel and
colonial rule in the West Bank. These policies were also tried in the
Gaza Strip but it was a risk to have settlers there and it was too full
of refugees for to be seriously considered part of Israel. So it was
‘ghettoized’ with the hope that it would be domiciled in such a way. But
Gaza resists and the only way Israel deems possible to react to this,
is to use all its military might to crash that rebellion.

Q: Can we interpret the Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip
as an effort to ruin the newly-formed unity government in Palestine? Is
Israel trying to delegitimize Hamas in the eyes of the people of Gaza
Strip who voted unanimously in the 2006 legislative election to bring it
to power, and to pretend that Hamas is not capable of providing
security and welfare for them?

A: Indeed, there is also a more immediate reason for the particular
timing of this assault. The Fatah-Hamas unity government and the
Palestinian Authority decision to replace the ‘peace process’ with an
appeal to international organizations endangers, in the eyes of the
Israelis, their control over the West Bank. So the wish was for
destroying Hamas politically in the West Bank and militarily in the Gaza
Strip.

Q: It seems that a growing number of Israeli academicians,
intellectuals, journalists and ordinary citizens on the streets are
turning frustrated at the policies of Israel and its brutalization of
the Palestinian citizens. I just read that a large group of Israeli
university professors have signed a petition, calling on Tel Aviv to
cease its military operations against the civilian population in Gaza.
So, we see an emerging trend in opposition to the Israeli policies.
What's your take on that?

A: I would not exaggerate the number of dissenting voices inside
Israel. There are of course such voices, but the society at large, 87
percent according to one poll, is not only behind the government’s
policy in Gaza, but even demand a more brutal action over there. So I
think we cannot rest our hopes for an end to the violence in Palestine
on a change from within Israel. Only strong pressure from the outside
can produce such a result.

Q: Do you think it's possible to stop Israel from intensifying
its assault on the Gaza Strip and violating the international law?
Israel has hasn't paid any attention to the UN bodies' condemnations and
calls for the cessation of hostilities. So, it sounds like
international law doesn't have any mechanism for obligating Israel to
abide by its commitments as an occupying power under the international
law. What do you make of it?

A: The only way of stopping Israel is adopting towards it the same
attitude adopted against South Africa at the time of Apartheid. For
this to be effective, one would have hoped to see a change in the
American position. This is not likely to take place soon. But also in
the case of South Africa, the American position was an obstacle for an
effective action against South Africa. The fall of the Soviet Union
convinced the Americans that South Africa was not needed any more in the
cold war. So something similar has to occur to change American
positions. But in the meantime it is important to build the solidarity
movement with the Palestinians on the basis of human and civil rights’
agenda.

Q: All of those Israeli politicians, diplomats, intellectuals
and academicians who break the wall of silence and level some criticisms
against the discriminatory practices and policies of the Israeli
government with regards to the Palestinian people are immediately
defamed as anti-Semites and self-hating Jews. Have you ever faced such
charges? What's your perspective on those who want to officially
sanction any criticism of Israel under this pretext and obstruct the way
to a meaningful dialog on what's happening in that sensitive region of
the world?

A: Yes a lot. Self-hating Jew is a common reference to me. But I have
no problem with my Jewish identity. My conflict is with Zionism. I think
Zionism reduced Judaism into a narrow minded ethno-nationalism that
depended on the success of a colonialist project. This brought more
misery to Jews around the world, rather than helping them to defeat
anti-Semitism. I think now that the Jews are already a third generation
in Palestine, they can be recognized as a separate ethnic group provided
they are willing to share the land with the indigenous people and not
strive to dispossess them.

Q: The United States government has offered its unconditional
and unrestrained support to the Israeli government in its deadly
operations in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Washington is the
largest financial and military benefactor to Israel. Israel will never
be held accountable if this approach continues. Does it mean that
Israel, with its criminal record of murdering the Palestinians would
always remain immune to accountability before the international
community?

A: I think one should not take a deterministic view on this. First of
all, the United States was not always pro-Israeli and the American
public is not the same as its political elites. In fact, there is a far
more significant change in the attitude towards Israel among young
American, including many Jews, than in Israel. Secondly, America's
ability to impact world politics has seriously diminished. States such
as Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa and China (the BRICS countries)
have more influence than ever before. If they are recruited to the
campaign to change the reality on the ground in Palestine, then there is
a good chance for change and peace.

Q: In a September 2006 article, you referred to the Israeli
policies in the Gaza Strip as an incremental genocide, and reiterated
that its ongoing military assault on the caged people of Gaza represents
the continuation of that lethal policy. Do you believe that Israel is
carrying out a project of ethnic cleansing and is trying to kill as many
Palestinians as possible so as to alter and distort the demographics of
the region and realize its plan for establishing the Greater Israel?

A: I think it is a bit more nuanced. The Zionist project from its very
beginning was having as much of Palestine as possible with as few
Palestinians in it possible. The means for achieving it have changed
with time. In 1948, the major effort to achieve it was attempted when
half of the country’s indigenous people were expelled. More
sophisticated means were used afterwards; military rule, discriminatory
legislation and small scale ethnic cleansing operations. In Gaza all
these means proved useless and therefore the idea was to ghettoize Gaza
and hope that this would separate its people from Palestine. But when
they resisted the reaction became genocidal.

Q: It's understandable why the Israeli media are giving a
lopsided and biased coverage to the war that Netanyahu and his entourage
have inflicted on the empty-handed Palestinians. But why do the Western
mainstream media, most of the times proudly boasting of their adherence
to the codes of ethics and professionalism, follow the same path and
don't talk the truth and present the realities of this unjust carnage
that is playing out in the beleaguered Gaza Strip?

A: An excellent question. There is no good reason for this biased
Western coverage. I think it differs in explanation for different parts
of the West. In the United State, there is a strong pro-Zionist, Jewish
and Christian presence in the media which reflect both AIPAC and the
Christian Zionist Churches’ point of view on Israel. The more liberal
press, especially the New York Times, slowly become more critical on
Israel but still has not walked the extra mile, maybe because of
timidity. In Europe, I think the fear of being accused of anti-Semitism
is still very strong, as well as financial consideration connected to
pro-Zionist corporations. So they adopted the paradigm of balance and
parity which continues to provide Israel with immunity.

Iqra'/ Bacalah

Behind The front lines of every war in the world

Soft Power, The means to success in World Politics

SOFT POWER

Soft power is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments. It arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals, and policies.

America has long had a great deal of soft power; young people behind The Iron Curtain listening to American music and news on Radio Free Europe; of Chinese students symbolizing their protests in Tiananment Square by creating a replica of the Statue of Liberty; of newly liberated Afghans in 2001 asking for a copy of Bill of Rights; of young Iranians today surreptitiously watching banned American videos and satellite television broadcasts in the privacy of their homes. These are all examples of America's soft power.

When you can get others to admire your ideals and to want what you want, you do not have to spend as much on sticks and carrots to move them in your direction. Seduction is always more effective than coercion, and many values like democracy, human rights, and individual opportunities are deeply seductive.

Much of American soft power has been produced by Hollywood, Harvard, Microsoft, Facebook and Michael Jordan

(Joseph S. Nye Jr, former Dean of The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, was Chairman of National Intelligent Council and Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Clinton Administration)

NO SATU

Tokoh Kedah "Behind The Enigma"

Monte Zain

Monte Zain, Out Of Malaya

Monte Zain leaved his hometown of Alor Setar at the age of 20, he sailed as a seaman on a merchant ship on a voyage to the New World to pursue his unusual dream of becoming a Hollywood actor.

A young man of lesser character and determination would have been completely overwhelmed by cultural shock during his first week on American soil in June 1947 as he walked the streets of Harlem alone-surviving on bread and water from drinking fountains in New York Central Park - sleeping in subway trains and on park benches.

Deligence and thrift saw Monte Zain on the road towards an initial career as an actor. He studied and worked, sometime on three shifts in restaurant to support himself and his family back in Malaya, and not forgetting to set aside five dollars in a savings account from each paycheck to assist his friends in the "Saberkas" theater group to come to America for higher studies.

Life expose him to many types of people and interpersonal experiences. His likeness to Sabu of "The Elephant Boy" fame was a strong magnetic attraction in his many encounters with the opposite sex.

Circumtances beyond the control of mortal man intervened and short stopped his dream of a career on the Big Screen, but not before two of his Malayan friends came to join him in California for higher education opportunities. As for himself, Monte Zain joined the US Army, primarily, out of necessity and survival.

He finally became a citizen of the United States and settled permenantly in California with his Japanese-born soul mate.

Tenang-tenang Sg Merbok

Jangan disangka tiada buaya

Jetty Merbok

This picture was not part of what I had in mind as the idea was to capture the sunset at the jetty in Merbok Beradik**. After having shot the sunset, I found the bridge was basked in the twilight of the dusk and the artificial lighting from the lamp posts. Couples with bridge's own reflection in the river, I quickly pulled out the camera to record the moment!